Thistle Masonic Lodge No. 34 celebrated a significant anniversary last week.
Members of the local lodge plus colleagues from other Lodges gathered last Tuesday night at their Murray St. home where they marked the occasion.
“It’s a gathering of everyone we could get here,” explained Bill Atkinson. “We made a special night to have everyone come out.”
Atkinson is the current secretary at Thistle Lodge No. 34, and his rank is Honorary Past Grand Senior Warden. He was Worshipful Master in 1975.
Not only were members there from the Amherstburg area, some came in from as far as Wheatley and Staples.
According to Mark Feltoe, who is known as Brother Mark Feltoe at the Lodge, the history of the Freemason brothers sees them as part of the military complement and associated civilian complement at Fort Amherstburg (later Fort Malden). They initially met informally in the choir loft at the early Christ Church building.
“The first actual building designated as a Lodge, prior to the outbreak of war in 1812, was Searle House, located at the northeast corner of what are now Richmond and Bathurst streets, and occupied today by Scotiabank,” Feltoe stated. “Searle House was an impressive three-storey hotel and tavern, within which the Adoniram Lodge No. 18 occupied a front room.”
Feltoe’s research mentioned a story that says, on the evening of July 11, 1812, a Brother arrived at the Lodge with the news the American army, under Brigadier Gen. Hull had begun an invasion of Upper Canada just east of Sandwich and was advancing on Amherstburg.
“In response, the Worshipful master closed session in less than five minutes and some 20 brethren cleared out of the room either to return to their families, or for those serving in the army, Provincial Marine or militia, to prepare to defend the colony against the American invaders,” Feltoe stated. “Little did they know this would be the last Masonic gathering for almost 37 years in this community, until the summer of 1849.”
A second Lodge was established in Amherstburg, above the Bullock’s Tavern at the northeast corner of Dalhousie St. and Murray St., in 1849. It was originally designated Thistle Masonic Lodge No. 14, later changed to No. 19 and then to its current No. 34.
The first Worshipful Master was John Laughton.
The Lodge stayed at that location until 1855, with Feltoe pointing out it was relocated to the Salmoni Building at the corner of Dalhousie St. and Richmond St.
“Thomas Salmoni was a well-established Amherstburg merchant and ran the building as a hotel and general retail store,” he stated. “He was also a member of the newly re-organized Thistle Lodge and leased the third floor of the ballroom of the building to the Lodge. This arrangement continued until 1890 when changing circumstances caused the Lodge to return to its former lodgings above the Bullock Tavern.”
The research read by Feltoe also pointed out the fourth incarnation of the Lodge was in the Shillington building, above Shillington’s Hardware Store, at the southwest corner of Dalhousie and Murray streets.
“On the third floor of this structure, the Order of the Eastern Star had a meeting room on the south end, while the Thistle Lodge was on the north side of the building,” Feltoe’s research stated. “It might also be remarked, I’m not sure whether in pride or embarrassment, that much of the furniture you see in (the current room) today was used in that Lodge room.”
The current Lodge was built in Nov. 1954 at its Murray St. location.
“When this building was originally built, it didn’t include the southerly 20 feet, which is now the kitchen and the washroom on the second floor, while a commercial space occupied the main floor,” he said. “The basement saw use as a storage area for furniture, an automobile showroom (necessitating the breaking down of part of a wall to allow cars to be driven inside), and a bowling alley. Originally, the local Lodge was thinking of having a liquor store as a tenant on the main floor. However, this liberality seemingly didn’t sit well with the Grand Lodge.”
The bowling alley was destroyed by fire in the late 1960s and never re-opened. Feltoe added the main floor was also used by the Amherstburg Community Food Bank in the late 1980’s, “perhaps a fitting accompaniment to our own ongoing community support efforts.”
The 175th anniversary featured items from the collections of the Marsh Historical Collection and Fort Malden National Historic Site of Canada that were loaned for the occasion.
Thistle Masonic Lodge No. 34 marks its 175th anniversary
By Ron Giofu
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